Bully Allergy Problems Please Help

I have a 90 lbs. Bully with allergy problems. Her symptoms are : she has a foul and almost rancid odor even though we are bathing her with a vet prescribed shampoo every 7 to 10 days or even sooner when she is full blown broken out. she also has welts and rashes under her hair and exposed on her underside where there is minimal hair coverring. she tries to scratch and is obviously in a miserable state. when you even touch or graze any affected part of her body she twitches uncontrollably as if she were scratching herself.
I have taken her to the vet and was given benadryl, prednisone and a prescribed shampoo. I also was told to switch her to Nutromax lamb and rice food and snacks as it is supposed to be good for skin issues. This worked well for a short time. Well needless to say, she is now 1 and a half and I am still fighting these concerns. I know that finding the source of the allergy is important,but she only goes out to go to the bathroom and supervised play in our yard,which she loves..and walks with Mom Dad and sissy. That part is controlled as much as possible. I now found out that it may be a yeast inbalance. I could sure use some assistance with my babygirl as she is our family treasure and we are mserable when she is sick... If she feels half as bad as she looks and smells, my baby must be really hurting... Please help me.

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So! What do the top recommended dog food brands all have in common? In a nutshell, the following:-
All natural, human grade dog food ingredients.
Hormone and antibiotic free dog food ingredients.
No by-products whatsoever.
They offer a high protein dog food choice.
Quality grains and no cheap and nasty fillers.
Void of harmful chemicals, preservatives or additives.

Ready! In alphabetical order, here's our pick of the best rated dog food brands on the market ...

Yes, welcome. Karla will come up with some good info for you, I know.
personally, I don't care for Nutro foods and have never had good results, but that us my experience. I would try one of the better foods, probably easily found at a pet store vs the big chain stores. You can try something with maybe a fish and potato base and no grains.
Ok, this is not the best food but often helps with skin and digestive issues and that is Pro Plan Salmon for sensitive stomachs. Whatever food you switch to, do it gradually. I always pick up a small bag and try it to see how things go.

Now, aside from food, has the Vet done blood work to check for possible systemic issues? Some diseases can cause the body odor. Have skin scrapings been done to check for bacterial infections, seborrhea or Dermatomyocitis?

If you got the dog from a breeder, have you tried to contact them (if they would be forthcoming) to see if the sire, dam or litter mates have had problems.

Poor thing sounds miserable. Hope maybe you can get some testing done and mpnarrow down the cause.

Skin issues are some of the hardest things to deal with. To try your best, it is often trial and error and patience. You need to limit foods, even treats, and keep a diary! If you try something new, you have to give it a trial of at least 2-3 weeks unless you notice a reaction before that. You can then gradually add one thing at a time. Drawn out process but it may pay off in the long run.

What is the dig sleeping on? I would try to only use terry cloth or 100 percent cotton and when you wash it, use a diluted vinegar rinse then rinse with clean vinegar to remove the soap residue. No fabric softeners.
Good luck an do keep us posted.

thanks for the help. I was feeding her Purina puppy chow. That is what i was given to start her on from the breeder. I have been in contact with him, and he says no sire, dam or litter issues of course... He is a reputable breeder in our area with no history of problems, but he has not been very helpful other than to say it must be an allergen in our property. No kiddimg.

Hello jtaliza...How old is your Bullie? Has this issue gone on as long as you've had her?
The shampoo: What is it designed for? Yeast, Bacteria or both? If you don't know, please list the ingredients off of bottle & I'll be able to tell....
Is your Vet just guessing or WAS A SKIN SCRAPING DONE to determine the skin issue cause?

Does your dog have any missing hair on any part of her body? Or maybe some greyish areas anywhere that don't match the rest of her? Or any redness or inflammation on any area? How are her ears? What do the insides look and smell like?
Can you pinpoint where the odor is coming from? Does it smell like corn chips or fritos? Or more of a Mousey/racid smell?

It's also possible that your food has caused ALL of this, but the odor is something not to take litely....
Purina Puppy Chow is awful & Nutro is not much better.....I will send you a link of thousands of consumer complaints (Still ongoing) w/feeding Nutro....Many reports are much worse than yours....Just by glancing at the ingredient list, I can count 5 things that cause allergies in dogs in this food! This is scarey stuff! Here it is:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

Next, I'm not even going to touch Puppy Chow.....There's nothing in it worth eating & certainly not nutritious..People feed it because it's cheap! However, you get what you pay for!

I'm also sending two food lists: The best foods to buy & the all time worst foods...Remember, there are also 100's of foods in between.....These will be in a separate post as this forum only allows so many words....

We give them a disgusted 0 Scoops!
Our personal recommendation is that you take a good look at these dog food names and memorize them.

Now! Tuck your tail between your legs and run for the hills!

See here for a glimpse of what really goes on behind the commercial dog food industry.

These dog foods contain the worst dog food ingredients you will find! They are comprised mainly of by-products; carcinogenic flavors and preservatives; cheap, unhealthy fillers, and ... Heaven only knows what else!

In addition, we have no respect for the philosophy of these pet food companies. In our opinion, they are clearly dedicated to their bottom line with a total disregard for the health and well-being of our beloved furry companions.

They are truly a far cry from the best dog foods available!

It is highly unlikely that any of these awful supermarket brands on our list of Bad Dog Foods will be carried or recommended by any respectable, independent dog food store.

Their next to worse list:
The following dog food brands nose-dived on our dog food ratings scale at 1 Scoop out of a possible 5 Scoops!

So, What Does a 1 Scoop Dog Food Ranking Mean?

In a nutshell, it means turn your back on these cheap dog food brands ... and sniff out dog food companies who, at the very least, make an attempt to manufacture an all natural, holistic dog food!

Dog Food Scoop would personally never let our precious fur baby touch any of these foods, and we can not recommend them as a safe dog food in any way, shape or form!

Really! The quality of these dog foods is far, far below any of the best dog foods recommended.

Why do We Think They are Such Bad Dog Foods?

Various factors come into play when we do each dog food analysis. Read here for our full criteria for determining the best dog food.

For example:

Overall, these dog food recipes are comprised largely of unhealthy ingredients and fillers such as brewers rice, ground corn, etc. Reading between the lines of their dog food labels, it appears as though they resort to "ingredient splitting".
"Animal" fat may also be used as opposed to a named fat.
In some cases, by-products may also be used.
Additionally, they do not offer any high protein dog food options either. No surprises there, though!

We will analyze this in a lot more detail when we publish our full dog food reviews.

We consider these among the best commercial dog food brands on the market.

We found that not only are these the top recommended dog food brands by experts and dog nutritionists -- but they also appear consistently as the best rated dog food brands on various consumer reports on dog food.

So! What do the top recommended dog food brands all have in common? In a nutshell, the following:-
All natural, human grade dog food ingredients.
Hormone and antibiotic free dog food ingredients.
No by-products whatsoever.
They offer a high protein dog food choice.
Quality grains and no cheap and nasty fillers.
Void of harmful chemicals, preservatives or additives.

Ready! In alphabetical order, here's our pick of the best rated dog food brands on the market ...

first of all, I want to thank you for the help on this issue. I have changed her food to Taste of the Wild which was also reccomended to me by a vet tech i talked to. A couple answers to some of your questions: No she has not had skin scrapings taken and tested. Vet never told me about this. Lastly, no issues with litter mates,dam, or sire. I am still in the gradual switch phase over to the new food and willlet you know of progress. Thanks again for the help.... jta and Liza

TOTW is an excellent choice.....All flavors are great, but the "High Prairie" & "Wetlands" is their top of the line flavors.....Make sure you feed at least 1 meal a day of Wet food.......TOTW has really great canned formulas & all dogs need added moisture to their diets...Especially, skin disease dogs!

Also, get your dog on a good probiotic for at least 3 months to kill yeast......There are many different kinds, but The easiest one to obtain is called "Pearls"....You want the one that says Acidophilus..They make 2 or 3 different kinds, but the plain one is the one you want.......Can be purchased at Wal-Mart...They will come in a box with 30 tiny pills inside.....Found in the Vitamin section....Give your dog 1 @ day...If she becomes constipated, give one every other day.......This will help fight Yeast internally......

Yeast can form for many reasons, but in dogs, mainly from a excessive high grain diet & no moisture to flush the system...Next would be sugars & Antibiotics......

Good luck & thank you for the updates....Don't give up...You should see a difference in a couple of months...Hang in there! Merry Christmas to you & yours, Karla

My 3 dogs (jack russell and 2 vizsla) have been feeding on Nature's Variety Prairie, Beef & Barley Recipe for 2 months. We switched becuse one of our Vizsla was gaining weight on the old food no matter how much we cut back. unfortunately, she is gaining even more on the new stuff, and is quite moody. Our jack russell is also now humping everything in site, and our other vizsla has very watery stool and is quite raw around the anus. I believe they are all having allergic reactions to Nature's Variety, and our JR is acting like he just had a homone booster shot. What in the world is wrong with this product?

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